Introducing: The HubPages Amazon Program

Hubbers, starting today there is an exciting new way to earn from Amazon products on your Hubs: the HubPages Amazon Program. Some of you may recall talk of the Amazon Program way back in late 2011, when we originally hoped to launch it. Unfortunately, we had to pause development work at the time, but we are very excited to finally be able to offer the program to HubPages Earnings Program participants!

How the Amazon Program works:

Hubbers who participate in the HubPages Earnings Program now (or are eligible to) have the option to earn from Amazon products directly through HubPages. The program will track referrals from your Hubs and the resulting purchase activity on Amazon. You will accrue into your HubPages Earnings Program balance from this activity, based on a commission from transactions on Amazon that occur after a referral from your Hubs.

Enable the HubPages Earnings Program (i.e., provide a PayPal address and tax form)

Associate an approved Google AdSense account

Verify your phone number

Have at least one published Hub

Benefits of the Amazon Program for Hubbers:

The Amazon Program offers a very high Amazon commission tier because the volume of sales across HubPages is aggregated for the benefit of the entire community. Because of this, most Hubbers will earn more via the Amazon Program than they would on their own. Another advantage to switching is that earnings across the Ad, eBay, and Amazon Programs will be consolidated, helping you reach the $50 payout threshold faster.

Here are some answers to questions we think you will have about the transition:

I already have my own Amazon Associates ID linked on HubPages. What will happen to that?

We understand that some users may prefer to earn from Amazon directly, which is why transitioning to the HubPages Amazon Program is not mandatory. We do, however, encourage you to consider switching to the Amazon Program if you *do not* currently earn at a high Amazon commission tier.

I already have Amazon Capsules published. Do I need to edit those?

No editing of existing Amazon Capsules will be required. HubPages will take care of all the back-end work to make sure that the Amazon Capsules you have already published transition correctly with no additional work required on your part.

Amazon links created via the Amazon tab in the Text Capsule linking tool will automatically be updated with your HubPages-issued affiliate ID. Amazon links added ad hoc (copied and pasted from the Amazon site) will not.

Please note: due to caching, the affilliate IDs across all of your Hubs may not switch immediately. Please allow up to four hours for the conversion process to complete.

How do payments work for the Amazon Program?

Earnings for the Amazon Program will be pooled together with earnings from the Ad and eBay Programs to help you reach the $50 payout threshold faster. However, Amazon Program earnings will be credited to your HEP balance a month later than the Ad and eBay Program. The reason for this is to protect ourselves and the community from fraudulent practices that have the potential to arise with a shorter payment cycle.

What about open balances with Amazon if I switch?

Open balances with Amazon after the switch will be paid out per the Amazon Associates Program guidelines. Note that if you are using your personal Amazon Associates ID elsewhere on the web beyond HubPages, such activity may still contribute to your balance in that external account.

Can I switch back to my personal Amazon Associates ID after signing up for the Amazon Program under the HubPages Earnings Program?

Yes.

May I use my HubPages-assigned Amazon ID outside of HubPages?

No. The ID that HubPages assigns to your HubPages Earnings Program account is authorized for use only on HubPages. You are not permitted to use it off of HubPages or to provide it to others as downstream affiliates of you.

I am already enrolled in the HubPages Earnings Program. I am already part of the Amazon Associates Program via my own affiliate code. What are my options?

Your personal Amazon Associates ID will continue to work. You can switch now to participate under HubPages and take advantage of the high commission tier provided by HubPages. You will be able to switch back to your own Amazon Associates ID at any time.

I am not enrolled in the HubPages Earnings Program. I am already part of the Amazon Associates Program. What are my options?

Your personal Amazon Associates ID will continue to work. If you would like to participate in the HubPages Amazon Program and get the high commission tier, you will need to sign-up for a HubPages Earnings Program account.

Note that while you do not need to participate in the Ad Program in order to participate in the Amazon Program, you do need remain in good standing with HubPages and compliant with any rules that may be set by Amazon. This includes having an up-to-date account in the HubPages Earnings Program.

I am already enrolled in the HubPages Earnings Program. I do not want to join the Amazon Program. What do I need to do?

You do not need to take any action. The default status for the Amazon Program is “off”.

We encourage you to stop by our main FAQ to learn even more about the Program and visit the official Forum announcement where you can ask questions and report bugs. We hope you enjoy the Amazon Program!

For TEXT affiliate links to Amazon.com – those integrated within the text of a hub – that were placed MANUALLY by the author rather than using your utility…do these get changed over too? Right now they are allowed as one of two commercial links but are not part of the affiliate “sharing.” How will these work?

Also, would we still be able to see what items sold? Or is that information no longer available?

This is a great idea! But I have a question: I live in Missouri, where it recently was made illegal for me to participate in the Amazon Associates program. Is this different, or still under that same thing?

@Becki, each account needs to verify a phone number, but you can use the same number on different accounts.

@Jordan, unfortunately, we can’t offer advice on this subject. It’s up to you to comply with the laws in your state and Amazon’s ToS.

@bravewarrier, the two accounts will not combine. If you switch, your external Amazon Associates ID will continue to work off of HubPages. Any revenue earned via your external ID will be paid to you by Amazon and any revenue earned from the HubPages Ad Program will be paid to you by HubPages.

Sorry, another question. How does the 60/40 split work? If my new Amazon affiliate code through HP is “hubacct4782-20” will that code be displayed all the time and will HP take 40% of all the commissions? Or will that code be displayed 60% of the time and HP’s own code will display the other 40%, letting me keep 100% of the commissions made during the times when my code is displayed? Thanks.

I’m a little confused about the Amazon tier. The link that is provided in this post simply describes the tier that exists for current Amazon sellers. Will the Amazon program automatically start at a higher level? Clarification would be appreciated. Thanks!

I am trying the new Amazon capsules on a brand new hub, but I can’t get anything to display. When I click Preview Amazon Result, I get nothing. When I preview the article, the Amazon capsule is not there. Not sure I want to publish it until this gets fixed. Am I doing something wrong?

@Harold, your second explanation is correct: 60% of the time, we will display your new HubPages-issued Amazon affiliate ID and 40% of the time, we will display HubPages’ Amazon affiliate ID. More information on how the 60/40 split works can be found here: http://hubpages.com/faq/#impressions

@Rose, the starting tier (day 1 each month) will be lower because it will take some time to reach the volume of qualifying sales required to earn at the highest commission tier. We hope to reach the top tier fairly quickly each month. However, commission rates for individual users can still get dragged down by products that are capped, for instance at 4%. I hope that answers your question!

@Rock_nj, you are getting 100% of the sales made from your individual affiliate ID. Keep in mind, however, that we rotate your ID with HubPages on a 60/40 split as explained here: http://hubpages.com/faq/#impressions

I would appreciate more transparency on HubPages’ part concerning the non-answer to Jordan’s question asked above regarding whether this program is now a LEGITIMATE way for Hubbers in non-qualifying states (like Rhode Island, Maine, etc.) to earn from the Amazon Associates program. Although I do not personally live in a non-qualifying state, one of the selling points of using this HubPages/Amazon program is the idea that if any state we live in becomes ineligible, we could still continue to earn from Amazon via HubPages. To leave the answer as “unfortunately, we can’t offer advice on this subject. It’s up to you to comply with the laws in your state and Amazon’s ToS” is to miss the point. The question is not one of advice; it is about what is permitted in the HubPages-Amazon-Earnings-Program. Can people from these states participate or not? Thanks.

I am NOT an attorney and I do NOT work for HP. I’m just sort of thinking out loud and brainstorming. I believe that it would be subject to whatever terms Amazon and HP have contracted for. So if HP will not reveal that information, it’s not a writer’s duty to figure it out. For that matter, though, how would any prosecuting attorney or whoever enforces such things figure it out, either?

If people buy two products totalling $50 from my Amazon capsules this month:

At the lowest tier for all sales, I’d earn $2.
At the highest tier, I would theoretically earn $2.40.

However, because of the “random” rotation, I would only earn credit 60% of the time sales take place, because HP has a 40% chance of earning those commissions and paying me nothing at all.

Out of every 100 hits on my hub, only 60 of those hub views COULD credit me with a sale. If only one in one hundred people make a purchase (and the number is FAR lower in my case) then it would take at least 600 hits to that hub to provide the same opportunity for a sale. HP tier = twice payout rate, but almost an eighty percent drop in the likelihood of a sale getting credited to me, I believe?

Wasn’t there some reason CA, USA residents couldn’t make money from Amazon.com? Bill ABx1 28 went into effect July 1, 2011, which requires out-of-state online retailers with any kind of “nexus” in the state – a physical or corporate presence (not just a brick-and-mortar retail outlet) to collect sales tax on goods sold in CA. NY, IL, RI, NC, and CO have this tax, too. Similar laws were proposed in AZ, HI, MN, MS and VT, though I’m not certain of the status.

Because affiliates for a company in the state(s) trigger this obligation to pay, even if there is no physical presence in the state(s), are we able to still make income from Amazon.com products in these states (namely, CA)? Thank you.

@ KP,
Hubpages are not lawyers. You can freely obtain the expertize of a legal professional if you are unsure as to whether any legal issues exist in your state. Hubpages cannot examine and know the legal system of every state/ country in the entire world. They are providing a free service, and as such, should not have to pay for legal advice for those who believe that they are owed something more.

This question is akin to asking if one is allowed to use hubpages in North Korea? It’s not for hubpages to decide. They are not based in North Korea and any censorship or control the state has over you is not relevant to their service.

Sorry for being unclear. The question I want answered is not if participating in the HubPages Amazon Program would be illegal. The question is,: Does the HubPages Amazon Program exclude members from certain states (as the Amazon Associates Program does) or include them?